3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Feb 17, 2026 08:10 PM IST
OBSERVING THAT a Class X pass woman was drawing a monthly salary of Rs 85,000 without any apparent technical expertise, a special court has rejected the discharge plea of an accused in a Rs 225 crore multi-state cooperative credit society ‘fraud’ case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The court said that Elcy Rodrigues had actively supported the main accused to generate and layer the proceeds of crime as the designated treasurer of the Malaika Multi-state Credit Cooperative Society and a shareholder in a linked company where the proceeds of crime taken from investors were diverted.
The ED had in 2024 filed a case against Rodrigues, Gilbert Baptist who ran and controlled the entities, claiming funds collected from various depositors to the tune of Rs 225 crore were diverted for personal use.
“The role of the applicant (Rodrigues) has been specifically mentioned in the complaint that she was a close associate of main accused Gilbert Baptist. Further, she was merely 10th pass in educational
qualification. However, she was also one of the directors of M/s MAPL as well as 10.18% shareholder. Further, she enjoyed a salary of nearly Rs 85,000 per month without doing any effective work or having any technical expertise which would have justified her salary,” special judge R B Rote said in the order passed on February 13, rejecting her discharge plea.
Rodrigues had said in her discharge plea that she was not in-charge of the affairs of the credit society and the linked firm and had as a secretary authorised cheques as per the instructions given by the directors of the firm. She had also said that she was not a beneficiary of the alleged proceeds of crime and the salary received by her was from a legitimate purpose and source.
The ED through its special public prosecutor Arvind Aghav had said that statements of 52 investors, most of them senior citizens, were recorded, and evidence showed that over 12,372 investors had lost money invested in the credit company based in Mira Road. He said that Rodrigues was assisted by the main accused in purchase of three properties worth Rs 1.65 crore and had also received Rs 78.15 lakh through various entities run by Baptist.
“Considering the nature of offence, particular role assigned to the applicant and the material on record, it appears that the applicant has failed to establish a prima-facie case for her discharge. There is sufficient material on record to proceed against the applicant/accused and to frame the charge,” the court said.
